{{Short description|German-American politician (1843–1923)}} {{infobox officeholder | name = Ernst Timme | order = 13th | office = Secretary of State of Wisconsin | governor = Jeremiah McLain Rusk<br />William D. Hoard | term_start = January 2, 1882 | term_end = January 5, 1891 | predecessor = Hans Warner | successor = Thomas J. Cunningham | state1 = Wisconsin | state_senate1 = Wisconsin | district1 = 3rd | term_start1 = January 7, 1895 | term_end1 = January 2, 1899 | predecessor1 = Adam Apple | successor1 = John F. Reynolds | party = Republican | birth_date = {{birth date|1843|6|23}} | birth_name = Werden, Essen, Prussia | death_date = {{death date and age|1923|4|1|1843|6|23}} | death_place = Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. | resting_place = Green Ridge Cemetery, {{nowrap|Kenosha, Wisconsin}} | spouse = {{marriage|Caroline J. Maas|1867|1923|end=died}} | children = {{unbulleted list | Carrie M. Timme | {{sup|born 1868; died 1868}} | Florence Timme | {{sup|born 1869; died 1874}} | Lettie D. Timme | {{sup|died young}} | Albert F. Timme | {{sup|born 1874; died 1962}} | Madaline Elizabeth "Lena" (Schroeder) | {{sup|born 1878; died 1955}} | Ernst G. Timme | {{sup|born 1882; died 1888}} | Elizabeth A. Timme | {{sup|born 1886; died 1968}} | Zalmon G. Timme | {{sup|born 1889; died 1890}} }} | allegiance = United States | branch = United States Army<br />Union Army | service_years = 1861–1863 | rank = Private<br />Brevet Captain, USV | unit = 1st Reg. Wis. Vol. Infantry | battles = American Civil War * Battle of Perryville * Battle of Stones River * Tullahoma campaign * Battle of Chickamauga }} '''Ernst Gerhardt Timme''' (June 23, 1843{{spaced ndash}}April 1, 1923) was a German American immigrant, farmer, and Republican politician. He was the 13th Secretary of State of Wisconsin (1882–1891) and a member of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing Racine and Kenosha counties. He was a Union Army volunteer in the American Civil War and lost an arm at the Battle of Chickamauga.<ref name="wihist">{{cite web|url= https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Article/CS13707 |title= Timme, Ernst Gerhardt 1843 - 1923 |website= Wisconsin Historical Society |date= 8 August 2017 |accessdate= June 27, 2021 }}</ref>
==Early life==
Timme was born in Werden, a borough of the city of Essen, in what is now western Germany. At the time of his birth, this region was part of the Rhine Province, part of the Kingdom of Prussia.<ref name="obit-kn">{{cite news|url= https://www.newspapers.com/clip/43295885/obituary-e-g-timme/ |title= Colonel E. G. Timme is Called by Death |newspaper= Kenosha News |date= April 2, 1923 |page= 1 |accessdate= June 27, 2021 |via=Newspapers.com }}</ref> At age 5, Timme emigrated with his parents to the United States by sea. The voyage was difficult, the boat was shipwrecked twice during the crossing, and ultimately took seven weeks to reach its destination.<ref name="obit-kn"/> The Timme family arrived at Southport, Wisconsin Territory (now Kenosha), on August 17 of that year.<ref name="obit-kn"/> They quickly acquired land in the western part of the county, in the town of Wheatland, and established a homestead.<ref name="obit-kn"/> Timme was educated in the common schools in Wheatland, and, on turning 18, he enlisted in the Union Army for service in the American Civil War.<ref name="obit-kn"/>
==Civil War service== Timme enrolled with a company of volunteers from Kenosha County on a three-year enlistment. The company proceeded to Camp Scott in Milwaukee, and was integrated into the 1st Wisconsin Infantry Regiment, which was reorganizing after its previous 3-month enlistment had expired.<ref name="quiner">{{cite book|url= https://archive.org/details/militaryhistoryo00quin/ |title= The Military History of Wisconsin |year= 1868 |last= Quiner |first= Edwin B. |publisher= Clarke & Co. |location= Chicago |chapter-url= https://archive.org/details/militaryhistoryo00quin/page/422/ |chapter= Regimental History–First Infantry |pages= 423–437 |accessdate= June 27, 2021 }}</ref> Timme's company was designated Company C.<ref name="obit-kn"/>
The reorganized 1st Wisconsin was ordered to proceed to Jefferson, Indiana, and then to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, where they were attached to the brigade of General James S. Negley, in the division of Alexander McDowell McCook, and shortly thereafter became part of the Army of the Cumberland. With his regiment, Timme participated in the battles of Perryville, Stones River, Hoover's Gap, and Chickamauga, in the campaign for control over Middle Tennessee in the western theater of the war.<ref name="quiner"/> Timme was wounded during the first day of fighting at the Battle of Chickamauga; the wound was so severe that the surgeon had to amputate his left arm. Though only a private at the time, for his bravery at Chickamauga, he received a brevet to the rank of captain, and later advanced to colonel.<ref name="wihist"/><ref name="obit-kn"/>
==Postbellum career== After his amputation, Timme decided to pursue higher education at Bryant & Stratton College in Cleveland, Ohio, where he graduated in 1865.<ref name="obit-kn"/> He returned to Wheatland, Wisconsin, where he taught school. Back in Kenosha County, he quickly entered public service—he was elected town clerk, and served as town assessor and justice of the peace. Then, in 1866, he was elected Kenosha County Clerk and was re-elected seven times, serving fifteen years.<ref name="obit-kn"/>
Timme was first discussed as a candidate for Secretary of State at the 1877 State Republican Convention, which ultimately nominated Hans Warner, who was elected. In 1881, Warner sought the party's nomination for Governor instead, and the Party selected Timme as their nominee for Secretary of State that year. Timme defeated Democrat Michael Johnson, of Springdale, with 48% of the vote.<ref name="bb1889">{{cite report|url= http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/WI.WIBlueBk1889 |title= The Blue Book of the State of Wisconsin |year= 1889 |publisher= State of Wisconsin |editor-last= Timme |editor-first= Ernst G. |editor-link= Ernst Timme |chapter-url= https://images.library.wisc.edu/WI/EFacs/WIBlueBks/BlueBks/WIBlueBk1889/reference/wi.wibluebk1889.i0015.pdf |chapter= Biographical |pages= 490–491 }}</ref> His two-year term, along with all other statewide elected officers, was subsequently extended to three years by an amendment to the state constitution, which moved state officer elections from odd-numbered years to even-numbered years. He was re-elected in 1884, 1886, and 1888, leaving office in 1891.
That year, he was appointed as an auditor of the United States Postal Service by President Benjamin Harrison, serving until Harrison left office in 1893. After the change in administration, Timme returned to Wisconsin, and, in 1894, he won election to the Wisconsin State Senate, representing all of Racine and Kenosha counties in the recently redrawn 3rd State Senate district. Timme served a single four-year term in the Senate, and afterward received another federal appointment. President William McKinley appointed him an auditor in the United States Department of State, where he remained for the next seven years.<ref name="obit-kn"/> He was then transferred back to the U.S. Postal Service under the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, where he served another three years. At the end of Roosevelt's presidency, Timme retired and returned to Kenosha.<ref name="obit-kn"/>
==Personal life and family== Ernst Timme married Caroline J. Maas, of Wheatland, on March 25, 1867. They had at least eight children, though only three survived to adulthood.<ref name="obit-kn"/>
== References == {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{Find a Grave|98102421|Ernst G. Timme}}
{{s-start}} {{s-ppo}} {{s-bef|before = Hans Warner }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Republican nominee for Secretary of State of Wisconsin}} |years=1881, 1884, 1886, 1888}} {{s-aft|after = Edwin D. Coe }} {{s-par|us-wi-sen}} {{s-bef|before = Adam Apple }} {{s-ttl|title = {{nowrap|Member of the Wisconsin State Senate}} {{nowrap|from the 3rd district}} |years= January 7, 1895{{spaced ndash}}January 2, 1899 }} {{s-aft|after = John F. Reynolds }} {{s-off}} {{s-bef|before = Hans Warner }} {{s-ttl|title = Secretary of State of Wisconsin |years=1882–1891}} {{s-aft|after = Thomas J. Cunningham }} {{s-end}} {{WISecretariesOfState}} {{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Timme, Ernst}} Category:County clerks in Wisconsin Category:Republican Party Wisconsin state senators Category:Secretaries of state of Wisconsin Category:1843 births Category:1923 deaths Category:Emigrants from the Kingdom of Prussia to the United States Category:Politicians from Kenosha, Wisconsin Category:People of Wisconsin in the American Civil War Category:Farmers from Wisconsin Category:United States Department of the Treasury officials Category:American amputees Category:American politicians with disabilities Category:19th-century members of the Wisconsin Legislature